Finally got bored of the default Entourage mail sounds I’ve been hearing for two years and went looking for replacements — which turned up in spades at soundsetcentral.com. Paging through the downloads, jaw suddenly dropped when I came across a Gruppo Sportivo sound set.
25 years ago I worked at a surf shop in Morro Bay, when punk and new wave were peaking, and one of our customers brought in a tape of this obscure (to Americans) Dutch new wave band. The tape was on constant loop for an entire summer, permanently burned into my brain. But the funny thing was, I never saw an album cover of theirs, never owned any of their records, and promptly forgot about them when I left the shop.
Suddenly re-obsessed with Hans Vanderburg (Vandefruit) and Gruppo Sportivo, tracked them down on Amazon; turns out a bunch of re-issues have been produced recently, import only. Not a trace at Rasputin’s or Amoeba, so ordered “Buddy Odor Is a Gas,” “10 Mistakes,” “Back to 78” (full discography). They arrived a few days ago.
It’s strange to compare one’s hermetically-sealed-in-time memory of some forgotten musical branch with current impressions. How one group can be so stupid/silly and so brilliant at the same time is a confounding paradox. But I’m having fun trying to work it out. Amy and I have been singing the “Beep Beep Love” chorus for the past few days – amazing and welcome ear worm.